My wife and I stayed Boardwalk Inn, Boardwalk view, concierge back in August of 2001. It too was my first experience in this level of a stay, and even with my high-level of discerning "picky-ness", I was generally pleased with the additional, non-intrusive pampering.
When we arrived, there was no special concierge check-in, at least that we were greeted with. We checked in at the normal counter with everyone else, and had about a 20 minute wait. The lady at the counter made a couple mistakes that would come back to bite us later, and I used this "opportunity" to gauge the effectiveness of the concierges. I will talk about this in a sec.
When we got up the the Innskeeper's Club, the floor that concierge members stay on, I was met with the best aroma in the hotel. Maybe someone can verify this, but they HAVE to pipe in a certain woody-sweet smell, just on that floor. It definitely adds to the luxurious feeling. There was no one at the concierge desk, but we did meet up with Don Hughes, who is probably the nicest guy I met the whole trip. He was our concierge planner I had been in talks with weeks prior on the phone.
We stayed Discovery Magic, and therefore our plastic room key was our ticket to every park. Or so we thought. My wife and I got all the way to MGM, and couldn't get in with our "tickets." The lady at the counter messed up and didn't load the park admissions on our room key. After about a half hour of getting it straightened out, we got in the parks. Later that day, one of the concierges called to check on our stay, and I explained the situation to her. She apologized and gave us both free e-night tickets for that night. To me, it was just what was called for, nothing more, nothing less.
The food offerings in the moring generally are in line with what is offered at other concierge lounges--pastries and fruits, coffees with flavor additives, teas, and water for morning; nuts, crackers and cheeses for lunch, and I don't know about the evening offerings (always in the parks). I can tell you about the wines though : ) They had a selection of 1998+ vintage wines--merlots, cabernet sauvignons, whites, etc, about 6 bottles total. They also had dessert cordials, such as Almoretto, Jack, and a few others.
I will say though that they made me feel like it was a "one drink" limit, but I didn't test it. And yes, it is called the Bellvue room, and it does have a balcony that overlooks the gardens and some of Epcot. There are a few tables, a couple couches with coffe tables, a television, and a bar. The Illumination fireworks can be seen here at night.
This is all from memory from a year ago, so sorry for any ommissions. In all, the service was excellent, everyone had a smile, and the concierges were more than willing to go that extra step to make us happy. The food was great, room was nice and, that smell was AWESOME.
Once you pass thru the Innkeepers Club doors, are the rooms also in that secure area?
